


4 You

by TheBrightestNight



Series: love is stored in the cut fruit [4]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Character's name is spelled Viktor, Don't copy to another site, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, One-Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 18:53:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29318940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBrightestNight/pseuds/TheBrightestNight
Summary: "[...] an indulgence that felt fit only for emperors, queens, and your own kin." Connie Wang
Relationships: Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov
Series: love is stored in the cut fruit [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2153592
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	4 You

**Author's Note:**

> This is part 4 of a fun little series I've had in mind for years now, but never had a theme (other than the lyrics) to tie them together, and never really had any ideas to write more than like two. Now I'm in enough fandoms that I actually write for to do this, it's been several years, and I finally found a theme I like.
> 
> Titles for each come from Plain White T's song, _1234_.
> 
> Theme inspired by, and quote in summary from, [THIS ARTICLE](https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/05/9747262/asian-cut-fruit)
> 
>  **Additional Notes:** Huzzah! I was also able to double up and add this to a different series of mine for YOI, so two birds with one stone! For those of you who've read it (or just came back from reading it), this is main-story-adjacent—the conversation Viktor promised himself he'd have with Yuuri later (…kinda).
> 
> For those of you who don't read it before coming back to this one (or just don't want to read it, which is fair!), three major points of information you need to know: 1) Viktor has retired and is still Yuuri's coach, 2) Yuuri won GPF gold (Yurio, silver), 3) the conversation I'm referring to in the paragraph above is about when Viktor fell out of love with skating until he met Yuuri at the Sochi banquet.
> 
> And as you can probably parse from the third part, there are some assumptions and HCs I have for Viktor, especially regarding the period of time he seemed disenchanted with skating, which will come up in this ficlet.
> 
> Finally, it begins a little bit after Yuuri moves into Viktor's apartment in St. Petersburg, after the 2016 GPF; specifically, right after Four Continents and, obviously, before Worlds.
> 
> many thanks to [@ebenrosetaylor](https://ebenrosetaylor.tumblr.com/) for beta-ing, as well as chatting with me about wound care and Russian culture!
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

In retrospect, Yuuri really should've waited until Viktor wasn't holding a knife in his hands to ask, "What were you worrying about last year at the Grand Prix Finals?"

Now, he hadn't exactly worded it so straight-forward. That wasn't really Yuuri's style. There was more hesitancy and it was more delicately put. But that was the main idea of what he'd asked. When Viktor was holding a knife, of all things.

To be more exact, Viktor had been chopping up some parsley for ukha, a Russian fish soup. Yuuri was watching Viktor chop, spacing out. It was kind of mesmerizing, just watching the way he chopped up the parsley. Not that herbs really needed to be cut delicately but Viktor was making this soup as a treat for Yuuri, so he wanted everything to be perfect.

It was in this weird, trance-like state, that his mind began to wander, jumping from one thing to the next and landing on their fight during the GPF last year. This in turn, prompted Yuuri to speak without really thinking about what he was asking before asking it.

"Vitya," Yuuri started quietly, keeping his eyes on the methodical chopping movements.

Viktor didn't look either, just hummed, "Hmm?"

"You were worried about something. During the Grand Prix Finals last year. Do you remember? You wouldn't tell me—"

Yuuri broke off and gasped, "Viktor!" as Viktor nicked the pad of his finger with the knife. Hissing in pain, Viktor dropped the knife and wrapped his bare hand around the wound but did nothing else after that, looking stunned—a deer in the headlights.

Yuuri shot up from where he sat and quickly went around, into the kitchen. Viktor had moved to cradle his cut hand to his chest, still squeezing his finger. Yuuri gently took Viktor's wrists and guided him over to the sink and ran the cut under the water. Viktor hissed in pain again. Yuuri grabbed a paper towel, took Viktor's hand out of the water, and warped the towel around his finger. Viktor reached up to keep the towel there. His eyes were glazed and he'd gone paler than normal.

"I'll be right back," Yuuri said. "I'm going to go get the first aid kit." He waited for Viktor to nod before going to the bathroom to grab the first-aid kit. When he came back into the kitchen, Viktor had turned off the sink and was now leaning against the counter, staring morosely at the floor, still holding his hand to his chest.

"Here," Yuuri said, putting his arm around Viktor's shoulders and leading him into the living room. They took a seat on the sofa. Yuuri opened the kit, laying out all the things he needed as Makka trotted over and nudged her nose against Viktor's legs, letting out a small whine.

"He's okay, Makka," Yuuri assured as he turned to face Viktor and gently took Viktor's cut hand into both of his, gently removing the towel. "Let me just get a look at this wound." Viktor remained uncharacteristically silent but Yuuri ignored that for now. Perhaps this was just his response to injury.

"Well, good news is, I don't think it will need stitches," Yuuri said. "But we should visit the doctor tomorrow just to make sure. Hold that again, please." He put a clean part of the towel on the cut. Viktor reached up to hold it to his wound as Yuuri dabbed a cotton ball in peroxide. He turned back to Viktor, holding the cotton ball up and Viktor reluctantly removed the towel again. Yuuri gently held Viktor's wrist with his free hand.

Viktor winced as Yuuri dabbed the cotton ball on his wound. Keeping hold of Viktor's wrist with one of his, Yuuri discarded the cotton ball and reached over to grab a bandage.

Viktor winced again as Yuuri carefully applied the bandage. Yuuri glanced up; Vikor still had a strange look on his face, his lips pulling down slightly, eyes far away.

"Are you okay, Vitya," he asked softly, gently holding the bandage in place with one hand so he could grab the gauze with the other.

"'m okay," Viktor managed before swallowing hard. Finally, he met Yuuri's eyes and tried for a reassuring smile, but it was small, giving way to the exhaustion and far-away look in his eyes. His voice was weak when he said, "Just thinking."

Yuuri nodded. Okay, that was kind of concerning. Thinking about what? His wound? Or the thing Yuuri had asked him about that he was sure led to this. Yuuri couldn't even remember what he was thinking now. How silly was that?

Makka sat down next to Viktor, resting her chin on Viktor's thigh, whining again. Viktor reached over with his free hand to gently pet her head, reassuring her in Russian. Makka licked his hand. Yuuri couldn't help but smile.

When he was done wrapping Viktor's finger, he reached for the tape to hold it together.

"That should do it for tonight," Yuuri said, giving Viktor's wrist a very small, very gentle squeeze, before putting all the things back into the kit.

Viktor sighed. "I'm sorry, Yuuri." His tone sounded like a child who'd just been scolded. Worry shot through Yuuri again, stronger this time. But he swallowed it and reached up to caress Viktor's cheek before leaning in to give him a quick peck on the lips.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Vitya," he assured before standing to return the kit to the bathroom.

When he came back out into the living room, Viktor tried to stand as he said, "I can still fix dinner!"

Yuuri hurried back over to him and coaxed him back onto the sofa. "We can order out," he reassured, then added quickly as Viktor's shoulders slumped, "You can make it tomorrow."

Viktor heaved a sigh and fell toward Yuuri, resting his head on Yuuri's shoulder, mumbling, "Okay" in a small voice.

Yuuri smiled fondly and reached up to put his arm around Viktor's shoulder, rubbing his upper forearm comfortingly. Makka _boofed_ and hopped up onto the couch, plopping herself into Viktor's lap, despite her side.

Viktor and Yuuri laughed, both reaching to pet her as Viktor straightened up.

"You call the takeaway place," Yuuri said. "I'll clean up the kitchen."

Viktor tried to stand but with Makka in his lap, that made it difficult. "I can—"

"I don't mind," Yuuri interrupted. "Besides, you should sit and rest more. You still look pretty pale. Let me know if you want any pain meds."

Viktor had his pouty expression but nodded as he pulled out his phone. His other hand idly petted Makka.

Yuuri chuckled before heading into the kitchen to clean everything up and put food away. Once he was done, he peeked out into the living room. Viktor seemed preoccupied with whatever he'd turned on the TV. Good. Yuuri turned back into the kitchen and got out a different cutting board, paring knife, and two apricots, gooseberries, and two tangerines. Then he set about carefully peeling, pitting (if needed), and cutting up the fruits. Specifically, carefully cutting the apricots into perfect slices, halving the gooseberries, and making sure none of the tangerines had any pith left on each and every individual slice.

He'd done this many times with his mom when he was younger, so it didn't take terribly long. There were, of course, still mistakes and mess-ups. He hadn't done it very often once he'd decided he wanted to compete, what with the busy life and schedule of a professional figure skater. So there was a learning curve but it didn't take him long to get the hang of it. He just hoped he didn't take _so_ long, Viktor began to wonder where he was.

Thankfully, that didn't happen. Even better, Yuuri managed to finish up just as their dinner arrived. Yuuri was placing the last bowl into the fridge when he heard a knock at the door.

"I've got it!" Yuuri called as he exited the kitchen and headed to the front door.

When he finally came back into the living room, Viktor looked up at Yuuri and said, "You were in the kitchen for quite a while."

Yuuri smiled, laying out the food. "It's a surprise."

Viktor smiled back, his eyes sparkling. He was never one to pass up a good surprise.

When dinner was finished, Yuuri insisted he clean up everything (Makka still laying across Viktor's lap), and then brought out the bowls of fruit he'd cut.

* * *

Viktor felt his chest swell with...something when Yuuri set the bowls of cut fruit out in front of him. His throat tightened and the cut on his finger pulsed painfully in time with his racing heart, which felt like it might burst from his chest. All he could do was stare at the meticulously cut fruit in front of him.

When Viktor had settled into the onsen with Yuuri and his family, he'd come across Yuuri's mom peeling and cutting Yuuri's favorite fruits. When Viktor had asked Yuuri about it, he told him it was something Japanese people did for their loved ones. He picked up a perfectly cubed piece of dragon fruit and showed Viktor.

_See how perfect it is? No skin, in a perfect little bite. If it had seeds inside, they would be carefully taken out._

Yuuri ate the piece, then.

_It's about the time and effort it takes to do this for another. To present only the best and eat the mess-ups and mistakes. So that your loved one doesn't have to worry about peeling or pitting or cutting into smaller pieces. It's another way to express our love for each other. Without saying it outright._

And now Yuuri had done the same for him.

And before he could stop himself, before he could help it, he began crying.

Yuuri sucked in a sharp breath and exclaimed, "Viktor!"

A lot of it was certainly the sentiment behind the fruit that sat before him, but paired with Yuuri's earlier question, and Viktor was feeling pretty emotionally fragile. He wasn't quite ready to answer that question. He _wanted_ to, but when he even remotely thought about bringing it up with Yuuri, he stopped. Paused. Something _still_ held him back.

"I'm okay," Viktor assured Yuuri, reaching up to wipe his eyes right before Maka whined and sat up, licking at Viktor's face. Viktor laughed and gently pushed Maka away, sniffling, then looked at Yuuri with a reassuring smile. "It's okay. I just…got overwhelmed. This…" Viktor looked at the fruit, then back at Yuuri. He opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again and took a small breath before he attempted, "このクダモノはステキです。ありがとう勇利." [This fruit is nice. Thank you, Yuuri.] It wasn't perfect—halting and hesitant but Yuuri felt his heart swell at the sound of his mother tongue coming from the man he loved so.

Yuuri let out a small breath of relief and smiled. "もちろん," [Of course.] he replied, sitting down next to Viktor on the sofa. "Always, Vitya." Then, "ヴィクトルの日本語は良くなっているよ _._ " [(Your/Viktor's) Japanese is becoming better.]

Viktor beamed and Yuuri couldn't help the returning smile from spreading across his face, albeit much smaller.

That night, as they lay in bed, in the dark, Viktor thought, _maybe_ , he could tell Yuuri. Tell him about his despair, his depression. How he felt frozen and cold. How he could feel himself giving up before they'd met.

Yuuri shifted, snuggling closer to Viktor, and Viktor was reminded how lucky he was. How much warmth and light and love Yuuri brought to him.

It wouldn't have been fair to bear his soul like that, in the dark, when Yuuri had trusted him enough to bear his soul to Viktor. At the Grand Prix Final, no less.

* * *

Viktor held his breath, gripping the bowl of larinskaya pears that he'd painstakingly peeled and cut. It was pretty beginner level, as far as cut fruit went-he was a long ways away from cubbing mangoes or dragon fruit—but it had still been difficult for him. Not because it was hard to cut pears into slices but because it was difficult to get it perfect.

And Viktor had tried to get it as perfect as he remembered Yuuri's being but seeing as this had been his first time doing it, his slices were still a little rough around the edges. And as nervous as he felt, he _also_ felt incredibly accomplished. He always loved it when they were able to share their cultures and he _loved_ being able to do something for Yuuri that made St. Petersburg feel that much closer to Hasetsu.

Holding his breath, he walked into the living room, where Yuuri dozed, with Makka across his lap, taking a nap. They'd come back from Worlds just yesterday, so they were exhausted but Yuuri more so, since he had done all the skating. (And won his first gold!)

As Viktor entered, his footsteps alerted Yuuri who blinked hard and looked up Viktor, giving him a sleepy smile.

Viktor smiled back, setting the bowl on the coffee table, in front of Yuuri before taking a seat.

"I, uhm, made this for you," Viktor said, stiff with nerves.

Yuuri's eyebrows shot up and he sat forward. "Did you cut those yourself?"

Viktor nodded, biting back his proud grin. "They're not perfect," he said quickly, "but…" He trailed off, holding his breath, needing to hear what Yuuri thought first.

Yuuri paused, and Viktor felt his heart drop. Before he could do anything more however, Yuuri stuttered out, "Выглядит очень вкусно! Спасибо, Виктор." [(This fruit) looks very yummy! Thank you, Victor.] Blushing, Yuuri leaned forward to pick up the bowl only to almost spill all of it when Viktor practically tackled him.

"Viktor!" Yuuri exclaimed.

"Конечно, Yuuri!" [Of course, Yuuri!] Viktor said, giving Yuuri a sideways hug as Yuuri tried to keep the fruit from spilling. Viktor pulled back, keeping his hands on Yuuri's shoulders, so he could look at Yuuri as he said, "Твоё произношение так быстро улучшается!" [Your pronunciation is getting better so quickly!] and then pulled him back into a sideways hug.

Yuuri sighed fondly before eating a slice from the bowl with Viktor's arms still around his shoulders. He felt Viktor take a big, steadying breath before he pulled away, his expression now serious.

"There's also…something else I wanted to talk to you about," Viktor said in a quiet voice. "If you're up for it."

**Author's Note:**

> translation creds. huge thanks to these lovely peeps:
> 
> Japanese:  
> [@theangryuniverse](https://theangryuniverse.tumblr.com/) (first two sentences)  
> [@that-phony-person](https://that-phony-person.tumblr.com/) (the last sentence and the characters)
> 
> Russian:  
> [@space-age-paronomasia](https://space-age-paronomasia.tumblr.com/)
> 
> last one is tomorrow :DDD
> 
> reblog on tumblr [here](https://awayofunderstandingit.tumblr.com/post/643075525096685568/one-shot-4-you)
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoyed! Comments are much appreciated ^_^
> 
> Thank you for reading,  
> TheBrightestNight


End file.
